C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l
instructions
B o o k s
Challenger Placement Tool
Purpose
The Challenger Placement Tool is designed to
help you place students in the appropriate book in the
Challenger series. This tool is intended to be used together
with other information you have learned about the student
to determine the appropriate book in which the student
should start. Appropriate placement is that level at which
students will be challenged but not frustrated.
Description
The Challenger Placement Tool contains three separate
sections: Instructions, Student Booklet, and Scoring
Booklet. After you print this Placement Tool, separate the
three sections. The Student Booklet is the only section you
will give to students.
The Challenger Placement Tool is designed to be
given to each student individually. It typically takes 20–30
minutes to administer. The tool is divided into two parts.
Part 1: Wor d Lists
Part 1 consists of six lists of words. These lists
correspond to the first six Challenger books. Each list has
twenty words taken from the corresponding Challenger
book. These lists give you an idea of the size of the
student’s sight vocabulary as well as some indication of
the student’s word attack skills.
Part 2: Reading Comprehension Selections
Part 2 consists of six reading passages, with five
comprehension questions that relate to each passage.
There is one reading passage taken from an early lesson in
each of the first six Challenger books. The comprehension
questions are typical of those asked in the lessons.
Administering the Tool
The placement tool should be administered in an
informal setting, with you and the student seated across
from each other at a table. This will allow you to mark the
Scoring Booklet without disturbing the student.
Begin by explaining that the purpose of the tool is
to place the student in the most appropriate book in the
Challenger series.
1 – 6
Say: First, you will be reading aloud some lists of
words. Then, you will read one or more reading passages.
After you have read a passage, I will ask you some
questions about what you have read.
Ask if the student has any questions before you
begin.
Administering Part 1: Wor d Lists
Have the student begin reading aloud the first word
list. In the Scoring Booklet, mark with a plus sign (+)
every word the student reads correctly. Mark with a minus
sign (–) any word the student does not read correctly.
Write incorrect responses next to the words in the Scoring
Booklet. Make allowances for differences in dialect or
accent. Do not count as an error any word that the student
corrects without help from you. If the student misses four
words or fewer, have him go on to the next word list.
Determining When to Stop
Continue administering the word lists until the student
misses five words in a given list. At that point, discontinue
Part 1 and begin Part 2.
Administering Part 2: Rea ding
Comp rehension
All students should begin with the first reading
selection unless your other information about a student’s
ability clearly suggests that he start at a higher level.
Students should read the selections aloud so that you can
assess word recognition skills in context.
Have the students turn to Selection 1 in the Student
Booklet. Read aloud the introduction to Selection 1, which
is in the Scoring Booklet.
Say: Read this passage aloud. When you have finished
reading, I’ll ask you some questions about what you have
read.
Word Recognition Errors
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
As the student reads, underline the important words
that he misreads and cross out important words that he
skips. An important word is one that will change the
meaning of the sentence or interfere with comprehension
if it is misread or omitted. Count the important misread
 Instructions C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l
and omitted words in the reading selection. Do not count
the same word more than once. Write the number of word
recognition errors on the line provided at the bottom of the
Scoring Booklet.
Comprehension Questions
When the student has finished reading the selection
aloud, give him the option of reading it again silently before
you begin to ask the questions listed in the Scoring Booklet.
Allow the student to retain his copy of the reading passage
and refer to it if necessary while you ask the questions.
Otherwise it is difficult to determine whether a student
is answering incorrectly because he cannot remember an
answer or because he did not understand what he read. The
answers given in the Scoring Booklet are typical examples
of acceptable answers. You should accept any response
that shows you that the student has understood what he
has read.
Determining When to Stop
Discontinue Part 2 when the student misses either more
than the maximum number of important words allowed for
that selection or two or more comprehension questions.
Determining Placement
Students who have reasonable sight word vocabularies
and basic decoding skills but whose general knowledge is
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
weak and/or who have trouble interpreting what they read
may do significantly better on Part 1 than on Part 2. When
this occurs, use the results on Part 2 to determine placement
in the Challenger series. This will help to ensure that the
student has the appropriate reasoning and comprehension
skills to be successful.
In general, you should begin a student in the book that
corresponds to the level at which you stopped testing. It is
recommended, however, that students begin the Challenger
series in an odd-numbered book. The odd-numbered
books introduce phonics, reasoning skills, and a good deal
of new vocabulary, whereas the even-numbered books
reinforce those phonics and reasoning skills and review
the vocabulary introduced. In addition, most students find
that the fiction selections in the odd-numbered books are
easier to comprehend than the informational readings in
the even-numbered books. Therefore, if you stop testing
at either level 2, 4, or 6, you should begin the student in
Challenger 1, 3, or 5, unless the student clearly resists
reading fiction selections and prefers to read nonfiction.
Carefully monitor student performance in the first few
lessons. If the student is having considerable difficulty
and exhibits frustration, consider placing the student in
a lower level. Your knowledge of a student’s reading
abilities should always be taken into account in placing
the student.
 C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l student booklet

List 1 List 2 List 3

1. fire 1. stamp 1. carpenter

2. sleep 2. drink 2. exercise

3. people 3. dollar 3. machine

4. climb 4. chicken 4. feather

5. fish 5. own 5. gentleman

6. don’t 6. stove 6. disturb

7. think 7. rubber 7. drawn

8. clock 8. guides 8. charge

9. milk 9. corner 9. chose

10. strange 10. remember 10. neighborhood

11. light 11. either 11. forgotten

12. birthday 12. away 12. clothing

13. true 13. meant 13. whether

14. school 14. mouth 14. flashlight

15. door 15. guard 15. bound

16. ground 16. breath 16. cautious

17. looked 17. country 17. pitcher

18. cousin 18. early 18. ought

© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.

19. another 19. certain 19. weight

20. out 20. written 20. shelter

 student booklet C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l

List 4 List 5 List 6

1. dozen 1. envelope 1. nutritious

2. island 2. review 2. particular

3. amount 3. applause 3. sausage

4. delicious 4. thoughtfulness 4. concentrate

5. escape 5. rooster 5. chapter

6. inch 6. brittle 6. desperate

7. muscle 7. troublesome 7. accommodation

8. strength 8. splendidly 8. disobedience

9. tongue 9. hound 9. nephew

10. conditions 10. argument 10. negative

11. foolish 11. physician 11. weapon

12. nostril 12. occasion 12. liberty

13. faultless 13. private 13. couple

14. restaurant 14. electric 14. knowledge

15. accident 15. justice 15. instrument

16. atmosphere 16. musical 16. circumstance

17. overheard 17. selection 17. classify

18. detail 18. photograph 18. remarkable

19. downward 19. hymn 19. imagine

20. moonlight 20. version 20. influence

© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l student booklet

Selection 1
Kate lived with her aunt. Her aunt’s name was Louise. Kate wanted to
bake a cake for Eddie, but she didn’t know how to bake. Aunt Louise
said she would help Kate, but Kate refused her help. She would bake
this cake without help!

At last, it was time to take the cake out of the oven. The cake looked
like a joke. She ate a bite. It was bad! She fed the cake to the cat. The
cat hated the cake also.

Kate was very sad. She was also mad at herself for refusing Aunt
Louise’s help. She dug a hole behind her home and put the cake in it.
She hoped that Aunt Louise didn’t see her.

© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.

 student booklet C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l

Selection 2
Have you ever heard a very important person called a bigwig? This
term dates back to at least 4000 BC. At that time, both men and
women in Egypt shaved their heads and wore wigs. The bigger the
wig was, the more important the person was.

One of the reasons that wigs were worn in Egypt was so people could
keep their heads clean and free from lice. The wigs were made of
many things such as wool, animal hair, and even gold. People used
beeswax to make the wigs stick to their heads.

It was not just the people in Egypt who liked to wear wigs. In 1624,
when the king of France began to lose his hair at a very early age,
he got everybody to wear wigs. Under Queen Anne of England, who
ruled from 1702 to 1714, wigs grew to their biggest shapes. They
covered people’s backs and hung down over their chests.
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l student booklet

Selection 3
Steven Carpenter had been driving a van for five years. He liked his job very
much, but sometimes the long hours of driving made him feel tense.

Every Thursday night, Steven dropped by his older sister’s house for dinner. His
sister’s name was Ruth. During one of these weekly visits, Ruth watched her brother
gaze out the living-room window as she rinsed the dirty dinner dishes.

“You’re not going to mope around all night again, are you?” asked Ruth.

“Sorry,” answered Steven. “I had to drive two hundred and seventy miles over
badly paved roads today. I’m so tensed up that I really feel rotten. Maybe I’ll go
home and try to get a good night’s sleep.”

“You know, Steve,” said Ruth, “you really owe it to yourself to do something
besides working all the time. You’re still young, but you’re already getting into a
rut. You should go out more, do things, meet some new people.”

Steven wisely kept his mouth shut. There was no point in trying to stop Ruth once
she made up her mind to give him advice.

© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.

 student booklet C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l

Selection 4
All life on Earth depends on the sun for heat and light. Life on Earth also depends
on the sun for food because all living things—both plants and animals—are part of
a process called a food chain. This food chain starts with green plants which make
food with the help of sunlight. Since all animals eat either plants or other animals
that eat plants, you can see why the sun is so important.

Many people who lived a long time ago understood how important the sun was,
and they worshipped it as a god. They would offer prayers and gifts to their sun
god so that he would be pleased and always shine his light upon them.

The sun is a star. Even though it is about ninety-three million miles away from us,
the sun is closer to Earth than any other star. This is why it looks so big and bright.
There are stars that are 1,000 times larger than the sun, but they are so much
farther away that they seem tiny.

By studying other stars, people have made guesses about how long the sun will
keep shining. At some time, the center of the sun will shrink and become hotter.
The sun will then become a huge, red star, and the heat on Earth will get so high
that life will not be able to exist. But don’t worry. The people who study the sun tell
us that this won’t happen for at least another five billion years.
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
 C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l student booklet
Selection 5
No question about it, Tango looked good. The
policeman’s uniform might have been made by the
best tailor in Paris. His little eyes looked brighter
under the cap; they almost looked intelligent.
“Stop staring at yourself and wipe that dumb grin
off your face,” the Boss said, “and listen. This is so
easy a half-wit could do it, so maybe if you try hard, and came back. While he was turning at the other
you can too. All you do is walk up and down the
street. Easy and slow, like a real cop on his beat.
Then if anybody hears us working in the house,
they won’t start asking questions. Keep walking
until we come out, then hang around a few minutes
covering us. That’s all there is to it. Now, you
understand?”
“Sure,” Tango said, his eyes straying to the mirror.
“Then get going!” the Boss snapped.
Tango was a little edgy walking to the street the
Boss and the Eel had picked out, but nothing
happened. The house where the job was to be pulled
was in the middle of the block. Tango had rarely
seen a street such as this one because he worked
in the shabby quarters of Paris—a little purse-
snatching, a little shoplifting; he even panhandled.
He strolled down the sidewalk, turned at the corner,
corner, he saw the police officer. Such a sight would
normally send him off as fast as his feet would
move. He stared in fear; his palms were sweating.
Then, with the officer a few feet from him, he raised
his arm and saluted.
The officer calmly returned the salute and passed by.
Tango stood peering after him. He felt strange and
thankful. “Say!” he said to himself. “Say, you see
that? I salute him, and he salutes right back. I guess
I look good to him,” he told himself. “I guess he
don’t see many cops looking so good.”
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
 student booklet C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l
Selection 6
In 1828, John Quincy Adams lost his job. He had
been president of the United States for four years,
and now he had been defeated in the 1828 election
by Andrew Jackson. Losing the election greatly
depressed John Quincy Adams who could not
adjust to this painful defeat. He shut himself off
from the world in his Quincy, Massachusetts, home
and wrote, “I have no real reason for wishing to live
when every thought I have about the future makes
death desirable.” Bitterly, Adams complained, “My
whole life has been a series of disappointments. I
can scarcely remember a single instance of success in
anything that I ever undertook.”
Then, in 1830, a group of devoted friends convinced
Adams to run for Congress. Adams felt as if he
had been born a new man. He was sixty-three years
old, a retired president, and the son of the second
president of the United States. Never before and
never since has a former president of the United
States run for Congress.
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
Adams won his election and entered Congress.
There he would serve for the next eighteen years—
until the end of his life. Instead of the peace and
quiet sought by George Washington and other
ex-presidents, John Quincy Adams would carve
out a brand-new career for himself. Though he
had carefully avoided the slavery issue during his
White House years, Adams now plunged into it
with all his heart, drawing much anger and debate
around his head. No other former president would
experience such abuse. Newspapers even branded
him the “Mad Man from Massachusetts.”
John Quincy Adams became a one-man symbol
of the struggle against slavery. Day after day, with
surprising energy, he held the floor of Congress, his
shrill voice slashing away at his enemies. Slowly but
surely, his efforts began to win the praise of others
who were also devoted to ending slavery in the
United States.
 C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l scoring booklet

B o o k s 1 – 6
Challenger Placement Tool
Student’s Name  Date 

List 1 List 2 List 3

1. fire 1. stamp 1. carpenter

2. sleep 2. drink 2. exercise
3. people 3. dollar 3. machine
4. climb 4. chicken 4. feather
5. fish 5. own 5. gentleman
6. don’t 6. stove 6. disturb
7. think 7. rubber 7. drawn
8. clock 8. guides 8. charge
9. milk 9. corner 9. chose
10. strange 10. remember 10. neighborhood
11. light 11. either 11. forgotten
12. birthday 12. away 12. clothing
13. true 13. meant 13. whether
14. school 14. mouth 14. flashlight
15. door 15. guard 15. bound
16. ground 16. breath 16. cautious
17. looked 17. country 17. pitcher
18. cousin 18. early 18. ought
19. another 19. certain 19. weight
20. out 20. written 20. shelter

Total Missed Total Missed Total Missed

© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.

Stop testing when a student misses 5 or more words on a single list.

 scoring booklet C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l

List 4 List 5 List 6

1. dozen 1. envelope 1. nutritious

2. island 2. review 2. particular
3. amount 3. applause 3. sausage
4. delicious 4. thoughtfulness 4. concentrate
5. escape 5. rooster 5. chapter
6. inch 6. brittle 6. desperate
7. muscle 7. troublesome 7. accommodation
8. strength 8. splendidly 8. disobedience
9. tongue 9. hound 9. nephew
10. conditions 10. argument 10. negative
11. foolish 11. physician 11. weapon
12. nostril 12. occasion 12. liberty
13. faultless 13. private 13. couple
14. restaurant 14. electric 14. knowledge
15. accident 15. justice 15. instrument
16. atmosphere 16. musical 16. circumstance
17. overheard 17. selection 17. classify
18. detail 18. photograph 18. remarkable
19. downward 19. hymn 19. imagine
20. moonlight 20. version 20. influence

Total Missed Total Missed Total Missed

Stop testing when a student misses 5 or more words on a single list.

© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
 C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l scoring booklet

Selection 1 (from Challenger 1)

Introd uction
This story is about a young woman named Kate who
wants to bake a cake. Read the story to see what happens.
S election
Kate lived with her aunt. Her aunt’s name was Louise.
Kate wanted to bake a cake for Eddie, but she didn’t know
how to bake. Aunt Louise said she would help Kate, but Kate
refused her help. She would bake this cake without help!
At last, it was time to take the cake out of the oven.
The cake looked like a joke. She ate a bite. It was bad! She
fed the cake to the cat. The cat hated the cake also.
Kate was very sad. She was also mad at herself for
refusing Aunt Louise’s help. She dug a hole behind her
home and put the cake in it. She hoped that Aunt Louise
didn’t see her.
Comp rehension Questions
1. Who did Kate live with? (Aunt Louise, her aunt)
2. How did the cake taste to Kate? (bad, awful)
3. Who else did Kate feed the cake to? (the cat)
4. What did Kate finally do with the cake? (She buried it.
She dug a hole and put the cake in it.)
5. Why do you think Kate wanted to bake the cake
by herself? (Accept any reasonable response: Kate
wanted to prove to herself and/or to Aunt Louise
that she could do it alone. Kate wanted to impress
Eddie.)

Total Word Recognition Errors Total Comprehension Errors

Stop testing if student makes 7 or more word recognition errors or 2 or more comprehension errors.

© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.

 scoring booklet C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l
Selection 2 (from Challenger 2)
Introd uction
This reading is about wigs. Read it to find out some
things you may not know about wigs.
S election
Have you ever heard a very important person called
a bigwig? This term dates back to at least 4000 BC. At
that time, both men and women in Egypt shaved their
heads and wore wigs. The bigger the wig was, the more
important the person was.
One of the reasons that wigs were worn in Egypt was
so people could keep their heads clean and free from lice.
The wigs were made of many things such as wool, animal
hair, and even gold. People used beeswax to make the wigs
stick to their heads.
It was not just the people in Egypt who liked to wear
wigs. In 1624, when the king of France began to lose his
hair at a very early age, he got everybody to wear wigs.
Total Word Recognition Errors
Stop testing if student makes 7 or more word recognition errors or 2 or more comprehension errors.
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
Under Queen Anne of England, who ruled from 1702 to
1714, wigs grew to their biggest shapes. They covered
people’s backs and hung down over their chests.
Comp rehension Questions
1. What does it mean to call a person a bigwig? (The
person is important.)
2. Name two things the people in Egypt used to make
wigs. (Any two: wool, animal hair, gold)
3. What did the people in Egypt use to make their wigs
stick to their heads? (beeswax)
4. Why do you think the king of France got everybody to
wear wigs? (Accept any reasonable response: He was
losing his hair. He was embarrassed. He didn’t want
to be the only bald person around.)
5. In which country did people wear the biggest wigs?
(England)
Total Comprehension Errors
 C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l scoring booklet
Selection 3 (from Challenger 3)
Introd uction
This selection is from a story in which Steven’s sister
gives him some advice. Read the selection to find out more
about Steven and his sister.
S election
Steven Carpenter had been driving a van for five years.
He liked his job very much, but sometimes the long hours
of driving made him feel tense.
Every Thursday night, Steven dropped by his older
sister’s house for dinner. His sister’s name was Ruth.
During one of these weekly visits, Ruth watched her
brother gaze out the living-room window as she rinsed the
dirty dinner dishes.
“You’re not going to mope around all night again, are
you?” asked Ruth.
“Sorry,” answered Steven. “I had to drive two hundred
and seventy miles over badly paved roads today. I’m so
tensed up that I really feel rotten. Maybe I’ll go home and
try to get a good night’s sleep.”
Total Word Recognition Errors
Stop testing if student makes 7 or more word recognition errors or 2 or more comprehension errors.
“You know, Steve,” said Ruth, “you really owe it to
yourself to do something besides working all the time.
You’re still young, but you’re already getting into a rut. You
should go out more, do things, meet some new people.”
Steven wisely kept his mouth shut. There was no point
in trying to stop Ruth once she made up her mind to give
him advice.
Comp rehension Questions
1. What does Steven Carpenter do for a living? (He
drives a van or truck.)
2. How does Steven feel at the end of a hard day? (tense,
tired, rotten)
3. What advice does Ruth give Steven? (to get out of his
rut, to go out more, to do things, to meet new people)
4. How does Steven react to Ruth’s advice? (He keeps
his mouth shut.)
5. Do you think Ruth has given Steven advice before?
Why or why not? (Yes, because the last sentence
indicates that she gives him advice quite often.)
Total Comprehension Errors
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
 scoring booklet C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l
Selection 4 (from Challenger 4)
Introd uction
Without the sun there would be no life on Earth. Read
the following selection to learn some things about the
sun.
S election
All life on Earth depends on the sun for heat and light.
Life on Earth also depends on the sun for food because
all living things—both plants and animals—are part of a
process called a food chain. This food chain starts with
green plants which make food with the help of sunlight.
Since all animals eat either plants or other animals that eat
plants, you can see why the sun is so important.
Many people who lived a long time ago understood
how important the sun was, and they worshipped it as a
god. They would offer prayers and gifts to their sun god so
that he would be pleased and always shine his light upon
them.
The sun is a star. Even though it is about ninety-three
million miles away from us, the sun is closer to Earth than
any other star. This is why it looks so big and bright. There
are stars that are 1,000 times larger than the sun, but they
are so much farther away that they seem tiny.
Total Word Recognition Errors
Stop testing if student makes 7 or more word recognition errors or 2 or more comprehension errors.
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
By studying other stars, people have made guesses
about how long the sun will keep shining. At some time,
the center of the sun will shrink and become hotter. The
sun will then become a huge, red star, and the heat on
Earth will get so high that life will not be able to exist. But
don’t worry. The people who study the sun tell us that this
won’t happen for at least another five billion years.
Comp rehension Questions
1. Name two things that the sun supplies to living things?
(Any two: heat, light, food)
2. Why did people long ago worship the sun as a god?
(Accept any reasonable response: They realized how
important the sun was. People realized they needed
light and heat from the sun to live.)
3. Why does the sun look larger than the other stars?
(because it is closer to Earth)
4. What do scientists think will happen to the sun after
five billion years? (Accept either of the following:
It will shrink and become hotter. It will become a huge,
red star.)
5. Why would studying the stars help people to understand
the sun better? (because the sun is a star)
Total Comprehension Errors
 C h a l l e n g e r P l ac e m e n t t o o l Scoring booklet
Selection 5 (from Challenger 5)
Introd uction
In this story, a small-time crook named Tango dresses
up in a policeman’s uniform. Read the story to see what
happens.
S election
No question about it, Tango looked good. The
policeman’s uniform might have been made by the best
tailor in Paris. His little eyes looked brighter under the
cap; they almost looked intelligent.
“Stop staring at yourself and wipe that dumb grin off
your face,” the Boss said, “and listen. This is so easy a
half-wit could do it, so maybe if you try hard, you can
too. All you do is walk up and down the street. Easy and
slow, like a real cop on his beat. Then if anybody hears us
working in the house, they won’t start asking questions.
Keep walking until we come out, then hang around a few
minutes covering us. That’s all there is to it. Now, you
understand?”
“Sure,” Tango said, his eyes straying to the mirror.
“Then get going!” the Boss snapped.
Tango was a little edgy walking to the street the Boss
and the Eel had picked out, but nothing happened. The
house where the job was to be pulled was in the middle
of the block. Tango had rarely seen a street such as this
one because he worked in the shabby quarters of Paris—
a little purse-snatching, a little shoplifting; he even
panhandled.
He strolled down the sidewalk, turned at the corner,
and came back. While he was turning at the other corner,
Total Word Recognition Errors
Stop testing if student makes 7 or more word recognition errors or 2 or more comprehension errors.
he saw the police officer. Such a sight would normally
send him off as fast as his feet would move. He stared in
fear; his palms were sweating. Then, with the officer a few
feet from him, he raised his arm and saluted.
The officer calmly returned the salute and passed by.
Tango stood peering after him. He felt strange and
thankful. “Say!” he said to himself. “Say, you see that? I
salute him, and he salutes right back. I guess I look good
to him,” he told himself. “I guess he don’t see many cops
looking so good.”
Comp rehension Questions
1. What in the story tells you that Tango isn’t very
intelligent? (Accept any one of the following: “His
little eyes . . . almost looked intelligent,” “wipe that
dumb grin off your face,” “I guess he don’t see many
cops looking so good.”)
2. What do you think the Boss was going to do in the
house? (rob or burglarize it)
3. Why did the Boss have Tango walk in front of the
house wearing a policeman’s uniform? (Accept any
reasonable response: So that if people heard the Boss
robbing the house they wouldn’t ask questions; so
people would think everything was okay.)
4. How did Tango feel when he first saw the police
officer? (afraid, nervous)
5. Why do you think Tango felt thankful when the police
officer saluted him? (Accept any reasonable response:
The officer thought Tango was a real policeman. The
officer didn’t recognize him as a crook.)
Total Comprehension Errors
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
 Scoring booklet C h a l l e n g e r p l ac e m e n t t o o l
Selection 6 (from Challenger 6)
Introd uction
John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the
United States. Read this selection to find out what he did
after completing his term as president.
S election
In 1828, John Quincy Adams lost his job. He had been
president of the United States for four years, and now he
had been defeated in the 1828 election by Andrew Jackson.
Losing the election greatly depressed John Quincy Adams
who could not adjust to this painful defeat. He shut
himself off from the world in his Quincy, Massachusetts,
home and wrote, “I have no real reason for wishing to
live when every thought I have about the future makes
death desirable.” Bitterly, Adams complained, “My whole
life has been a series of disappointments. I can scarcely
remember a single instance of success in anything that I
ever undertook.”
Then, in 1830, a group of devoted friends convinced
Adams to run for Congress. Adams felt as if he had been
born a new man. He was sixty-three years old, a retired
president, and the son of the second president of the
United States. Never before and never since has a former
president of the United States run for Congress.
Adams won his election and entered Congress. There
he would serve for the next eighteen years—until the
end of his life. Instead of the peace and quiet sought by
George Washington and other ex-presidents, John Quincy
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Adams would carve out a brand-new career for himself.
Though he had carefully avoided the slavery issue during
his White House years, Adams now plunged into it with
all his heart, drawing much anger and debate around his
head. No other former president would experience such
abuse. Newspapers even branded him the “Mad Man from
Massachusetts.”
John Quincy Adams became a one-man symbol of the
struggle against slavery. Day after day, with surprising
energy, he held the floor of Congress, his shrill voice
slashing away at his enemies. Slowly but surely, his efforts
began to win the praise of others who were also devoted to
ending slavery in the United States.
Comp rehension Questions
1. What job was John Quincy Adams running for in
1828? (President of the United States)
2. Did John Quincy Adams think he had been a successful
president? How do you know? (No. He wrote, “I can
scarcely remember a single instance of success in
anything I ever undertook.”)
3. What relative of John Quincy Adams’s was also
president? (his father)
4. What did John Quincy Adams fight against as a
congressman? (slavery)
5. How did people react to John Quincy Adams’s struggle
against slavery? (with anger, with much abuse, they
called him “mad”)
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